Cinderella never even showed up for the 2007 NCAA Men's Tournament.  She must still be locked up in Disney's vault.

Zero 12 seeds advanced to the second round.  While two 11 seeds did advance to round two, no double-digit seeds advanced to the Sweet 16.

Illinois was a 12 seed... Southern Illinois was a 4 seed.

Michigan State and Kentucky, two of the most dominant basketball programs, had to face a number ONE seed in the second round.

Duke was a 6 seed that never even made it to the opening weekend.

Georgetown is dominant again in March Madness... all while having a John Thompson and Patrick Ewing present in the locker room... just in a new millenium.

13 teams represented the Big Ten and ACC in the 2007 tournament, but only one in each conference made it to the Sweet 16, and both were number one seeds (Ohio State and North Carolina).

A large number of high seeds advanced, but once again, a Final Four has been announced without all four number one seeds present.

All in all, the 2007 Road to the Final Four was one less traveled compared to the tournaments of recent past.  People like me who chose to be adventurous with their brackets were in trouble, as while the games were wild, the results were fairly "vanilla".

While no double-digit seeds made it to the Sweet 16 and no true buzzer beaters occurred all tournament long, the 2007 March Madness tournament still has lived up to its billing throughout the opening rounds, through the Sweet 16, and leading to the Final Four.  The tournament hit an early peak on the Saturday of opening weekend, where every game was close, and I personally was on the edge of my seat so much during that day, that I practically fell off my couch.  The madness continued into the following Thursday night, where the first half of the Sweet 16 games were pure madness, and a perfect example for why the tournament has the nickname that it has earned.

Over the past few weeks, I have been like a moth to the flame when it comes to watching this tournament.  I needed to break away and post something out there to discuss some of the madness that I have seen so far, present some of what I feel to be the headlines of the tournament and mention what I feel were the best games of each round.

My bracket is busted... and for the first time in many years I will finish near rock bottom in a number of pools that I entered.  Where did your picks take a hit, or are you still in the hunt?  What did you think were the best games of the tournament?  Which games tormented you, or which ones crushed your bracket?  Which games were too hard to watch, and which ones made you stand up and cheer?   While the number of great games in this year's tournament seem endless, I give you some of the ones that stood out the most for me.  I'll begin with the first round and go chronologically throughout the tournament up until the final spot of the Final Four was resolved.

FIRST ROUND

In recent memory, the first round has often featured a large number of upsets, including one or two Cinderella teams emerging each year.  This year's first round of the NCAA tournament was different than many in recent past in that it was fairly tame.  While many games were entertaining, here were the ones that I considered to be the most exciting:

(4) Maryland 82, (13) Davidson 70

It is safe to say that the Davidson Wildcats certainly did not "fear the turtle".  A gutsy 30 point performance by Davidson's Stephen Curry was not enough for the Wildcats, as Maryland held on in the first round backed by six of its players scoring in double figures.  The game was never easy for the Terps who didn't extend its lead until the final minutes of the contest.  This was the opening game of the entire tournament, and a great way for the Madness to begin.  As for Curry, the son of former NBA player Dell Curry, expect to see him again soon, whether it's with Davidson, in the NBA, or perhaps as a transfer to a more prestigious collegiate program.

(11) Virginia Commonwealth 79, (6) Duke 77

Many people were happy to see Duke fall in the first round, mainly because the Blue Devils have been a staple in the tournament for years, and it was nice to see a change.  I wanted to call this upset in my bracket, but figured in the end that since many were calling it, Coach K would have Duke fired up enough to advance not just through this game, but a few rounds into the tournament.  Boy was I wrong!  This game was fairly close throughout, as Duke tried to pull away at a few different points in the game, but the Rams just wouldn't allow it to happen.  The scrappy Eric Maynor hit the game winning shot with a few seconds left on the clock, in what would be the end of Duke's season, making Virginia Commonwealth the closest thing we would get to a Cinderella in this year's tournament.  Even with Josh McRoberts announcing his early departure for the NBA draft, we all know that Duke will be back.

(11) Winthrop 74, (6) Notre Dame 64

This was the other double digit seed to advance into the second round, but how much of an upset was this game considering the fact that Winthrop was ranked late in the regular season?  Either way, I was happy to admit this was one of the upsets that I did pick in my bracket.  Winthrop jumped out to a 20 point lead in the second half, but Notre Dame went on a major run to make the game close down the stretch.  In the end, Winthrop held on and advanced to play Oregon in the second round.  The firepower of the Ducks would prove to be too much in round two.

(2) Wisconsin 76, (15) Texas A&M Corpus Christi 63

Jumping out to an 18 point lead in the first half, and remaining ahead of the Badgers throughout a big chunk of the second half, Texas A&M Corpus Christi was a team emerging as the possible Cinderella darling of the tournament.  However, the Islanders, playing in its first ever NCAA tournament game, could not hold on, and eventually the powerful Wisconsin team was able to pull away in the final minutes of the game.  However, Wisconsin's magic disappeared in round two, when UNLV was able to fend off a late Badgers run and move on to the Sweet 16.  Corpus Christi gave us hope for a stunner... at least for a little while.

(5) Virginia Tech 54, (12) Illinois 52

This game ended up being the closest that a number 12 seed came to advancing to the second round.  Illinois had the game in hand late in the second half, but faltered late, as the Hokies finished the game with a 12-0 run over the final 4